How to Generate Influential Word of Mouth
Written by Jennifer Layman, Small Business Strategist
Jennifer Layman is the founder of Forward Thinking Consulting, a strategic advisory firm for small business. She is an engaging speaker and author of the entrepreneurial marketing book, Forward Thinking For Your Business. A strong competitor, she draws on her experience in professional golf to create ways her clients can win, over and over again.
Word of mouth happens when someone talks about you or your business to another person, hopefully in a positive way. Good word of mouth works much like public relations, referring to the way people talk about your business when you’re not there to influence the conversation.
The biggest challenge with word of mouth, when it comes to growing your business, is that you don’t have any control over it. But what if you could change that?
Navigating word of mouth opportunities
The first step in finding solutions is knowing the problem. Here are two key problems that business owners experience with word of mouth, and how to convert the casual chat into a direct opportunity.
1. Unannounced interactions
You never know when, or under what circumstances, your name is going to come up in conversation, so be as accessible as possible. To help someone gather more information about your business, having a solid online presence can be a great step toward continuing the conversation. The potential customer can check you out and add to the information they’ve already gleaned.
Also, being responsive to inquiries in a timely fashion can elevate the potential customer’s decision to connect with you. Empowering staff with the ability to respond appropriately to inquiries can speed up the onboarding process with a new customer.
2. The unpaid salesperson
Word of mouth means someone else is speaking on behalf of your business. That person is not employed by you, so you can’t control how they explain what it is that you do. To assist them, make sure they have the tools they need to speak easily about you, positive customer interactions, good information on the website, a consistent social media presence, a strong community presence, etc.
The stronger your presence, the more tools your unpaid salesperson will have to sell you!
The cost of not supporting word of mouth opportunities
It’s always nice to hear good things about your business. Just be mindful that you’re always appreciating those comments, as opposed to feeling entitled to them. Even if you can provide the best price, the best service, or the best outcome for someone, they can always choose another business.
Sometimes, customers stop buying from you for reasons that have nothing to do with your business at all. For example:
A customer moves, and their positive word of mouth goes with them.
A customer experiences a significant life change, which also changes their habits and conversations.
A customer evolves from needing your business in the way they once did, and they stop becoming a customer.
A new business emerges that meets a customer’s needs more effectively.
These are just a few ways that word of mouth can be unreliable for growing your business if it is left unsupported. If your entire strategy is built on someone else selling your value, you can too easily lose the sale through circumstances beyond your control. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen.
Uplevel word of mouth into referrals
Word of mouth is indirect talk that may or may not lead to the next step. A referral is a direct recommendation and often generates an outreach from a potential customer. The direct approach gives you a chance to be part of the conversation, which gives you some control over the outcome.
Always be working towards referrals.
For most business owners I have spoken with, the difficulty in upleveling word of mouth comes in being comfortable with asking for referrals. Position the ask in a way that the customer can help someone else. For example: Thank you for the opportunity to speak to your employees today about workplace health. If you have colleagues you think would benefit from this presentation, please connect us.
Many specialized businesses, such as lawyers or tradespeople, are traditionally built on referrals, but this opportunity is open to any business. Use it to your advantage.
Being active is always a better position
If marketing is one of the least favourite activities in your business, instead of looking for ways to avoid it, look for opportunities to delegate it. Outsource your marketing to a professional and become the manager, rather than the doer, of marketing work.
If you don’t mind the marketing work and want to stay more hands-on, start by creating a strategy so you have something to guide you. Decide what you’re going to do and who is going to do it, and make sure it gets done.
Learn real-life examples of these and other business marketing solutions in the book Forward Thinking For Your Business. You can also reach out for 1:1 consulting on developing a marketing plan to scale your business.
The goal is to be in a routine of consistent marketing. Decide how that will best happen for you, and take control over the opportunities in your business.
Read more from Jennifer Layman
Jennifer Layman, Small Business Strategist
Jennifer Layman is a speaker, author, and strategist for small businesses. For 20 years, Jennifer has been at the helm of Forward Thinking Consulting, working with businesses and entrepreneurially-minded organizations to develop strategies that drive results. Jennifer draws on her experience in professional golf to bring elite performance techniques to small business owners around the world.
